Ex-Sports Editor Denies Link
To Players’ Transfer Scam
By M.V. Paasewe
May 22, 2002
Mr. Emmanuel Geeza Williams, former editor of the defunct Monrovia-based
World Sports Entertainment newspaper, who now resides in the United States,
has clarified that he is definitely not the “Emmanuel Williams” linked along
with the former chief scribe of the LFA, J. Sackie Kennedy, in the illegal
transfer saga of players Augustus Dumbar and George Miller.
This website, on Tuesday 21 May 2002 lifted a News Newspaper story titled,
“LFA Former Scribe Impersonates, Linked to Dubious Deeds in Players’
Transfer”, in which the local football house alleged that its former
secretary general had connived to cheat Mighty Barrolle FC of a US120,
000.00 transfer fee for player Augustus Dumbar.
According to the report, the deal backfired when Dumbar’s club, RKC Waalwijk
of Holland, instead sent the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) to
Mighty Barrolle in Liberia, after it was established that Sackie Kennedy no
longer worked for the LFA as general secretary.
The report further said Mr. Kennedy and his collaborators’ latest scam
involved a transaction between they and a Portuguese club called Sporting
Club Campomaiorense. The deal allegedly robbed player George Miller of funds
he should have received for matches played in Portugal.
But reacting to the report today, Mr. Emmanuel Geeza Williams said he’s not
the person referred to in the story. “It was a case of mistaken identity,”
Williams said, adding, it is rather “Johnston Emmanuel Williams” that the
report had referred to.
“I am a sports journalist involved in local promotions throughout the world.
But the other Emmanuel Williams has been residing in the US for the past ten
years,” Geeza Williams maintained.
Williams said the report has caused embarrassment for him, because anyone
living in Liberia will immediately think of him when they read the report
linking his name to players’ scandal.
Meanwhile, the Liberia Football Association maintains, in a well-documented
report, that one Emmanuel Williams, along with Sackie Kennedy, was involved
in cheating player George Miller of his just fees. Kennedy, fronting as LFA
secretary general, was said to have supplied incorrect information to the
Portuguese club about Miller’s records.
Attempts to contact Geeza Williams via telephone and email for further
clarification proved futile. However, investigations continue. |
Related Links
LFA
Former Scribe Impersonates |
